Postnatal clinical and imaging follow-up of infants with prenatal isolated mild ventriculomegaly: a series of 101 cases

Abstract

Postnatal imaging and clinical outcome of fetuses with isolated mild ventriculomegaly (IMV) have never been systematically analysed. To evaluate the postnatal clinical outcomes of a large cohort of fetuses with IMV and to correlate them with pre- and postnatal imaging. We report a prospective study of 101 fetuses with IMV (10-15 mm ventriculomegaly with otherwise normal US, MRI, karyotype and TORCH screening). IMV was divided into minor (10-11.9 mm) and moderate (12-15 mm) ventriculomegaly. Ventriculomegaly was considered uni- or bilateral, stable, progressive, regressive or resolved according to the prenatal US follow-up. Clinical follow-up was performed by a neuropaediatrician. Postnatal imaging included cranial US (n = 71) and MRI (n = 76). The outcome of minor and moderate IMV was excellent in 94% and 85% of infants, respectively. It was not different between uni- and bilateral IMV, and between stable, regressive and resolved IMV, and was independent of gestational age at diagnosis and gender. Fixed neurological abnormalities were observed in nine infants. Postnatal MRI showed white-matter abnormalities in 14 infants, including 6 of the 9 infants with a poor outcome. The prognosis was slightly better in minor IMV than in moderate IMV. Postnatal MRI showed white-matter abnormalities in two-thirds of the infants with a poor outcome.